Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

The Holy Spirit is the divine force (dunamis according to the Fathers of the Church) working in the life of the disciples of Jesus, in light of their mission. He manifested himself as the Spirit of courage, permitting the apostles to go forward; a Spirit of Wisdom who will empower them to speak boldly about the kingdom of God, in such a way to convince those who oppose it; a Spirit of discernment who will allow the to recognize and discern the way to go, the decision to make, and the time to act; a Spirit of Obedience, who will move them to submit to the Will of the Father, in all things and always, as Jesus, their master does, knowing that he will lead them to the Father. It all was true to them and is true to us, today's disciples.

The One Faith, One Family, One Parish Capital Campaign is underway. By now, everyone in our parish family should have received their pledge packet in the mail.

Thank you to our volunteers for working diligently to get us to this point. I also would like to thank our donors, in advance, for their generosity. While there is much to celebrate, much work remains to be done. In the coming weeks, volunteers will reach out individually to parishioners.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

The Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord marks the return of Jesus to the right hand of the Father and the beginning of His disciples' mission. "Go and make disciples!" is imperative for the apostles and disciples who are sent to continue the ministry of their Master.

As we move into the initial weeks of the One Faith, One Family, One Parish Capital Campaign, I want to say how truly blessed we are by those who continue to lead the campaign through their service and financial support. Saint Rose of Lima Catholic Church and School are grateful to receive such gifts given in the spirit of love and gratitude to a God who has richly blessed every one of us.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace!

The disciples of Jesus are never alone, especially when facing persecution.

Jesus promised the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete. In Greek "paraclete' can mean "counselor" in the context of those persecuted or afflicted by disappointment and who want to give up their call and mission. The Holy Spirit is poured out as a companion and also a strength to move the disciples forward. I'm pretty sure that is the same Holy Spirit who is pushing us as disciples of Jesus, as a parish and school to move forward.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

After finalizing all of the intensive preparation, we officially kick off our One Faith, One Family, One Parish: Building our Future in Christ Capital Campaign this weekend!

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

Jesus uses a very common scene of his time to explain his relationship with the disciples. It highlights some important topics of Christian discipleship. The disciples let Jesus guide them, with docility, for He alone knows how to lead them where there is life, life eternal. Having Jesus ahead of them, they will walk safely, not worrying about losing the way toward the goal.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace!

The journey of the disciples to Emmaus concludes with a meal shared with a stranger, at first, then no more a stranger but to their surprise, with the Risen Lord. Hospitality is common among Jews, however here it's also a sign of the interior transformation the disciples experienced and lived.

The stranger walking with them reminds them of all the prophecies about the Messiah. It seems that he was doing a liturgy of the Word or a Lectio Divina to help them to understand the Scriptures and how they have been fulfilled in the past few days. Then, his actions during the meal are very similar with Jesus' action at the last supper. This repetition was sufficient for their eyes to be open and for them to recognize the Risen Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

Dear Fellow Disciples

Thomas can perfectly represent many of us, disciples who impose conditions to their faith. He demands physical contact with the Risen Lord to verify His wounds and believe. The wounds which he had no courage to share or to witness a couple of days prior.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

The disciples understood the resurrection of Jesus gradually. Peter saw that the tomb was empty and acknowledged the fact. The disciple whom Jesus loved, on the other hand, saw and believed. He is really risen as He promised.

The faith of the beloved disciple contrasts with the faith of Peter. A paradigm for Christian discipleship. While one is sensible to the signs of the Father’s love working in the Son, the other limits himself to the superficiality of the facts.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace

In front of Jesus Crucified all idealizations and empty optimisms fall, when they are founded in the erroneous idea of an easy discipleship. A discipleship of glory and recognition. Only those who are capable of recognizing Jesus nailed to the Cross will be able to move forward. Jesus, the messiah of God, bearer of salvation for humanity. Those able to confess Him as the Blessed One, Beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased. This is the first step to christian and intentional discipleship.

Dear fellow Disciples, peace.

The narrative of Lazarus' resurrection calls attention to the motive of Jesus' violent death. The fact that many Jews started to believe in Him put in motion the wrath of the religious leaders. His great gesture seemed to put at risk the faith of the people. Jesus was placing Himself at the same level of Yahweh, God of life and death. Resurrecting Lazarus, He performed something which was due only to God. From there comes their decision to put Him to death.

The episode of today's Gospel involves, on one side the man born blind and on another, the group of religious leaders, evoking the theme of spiritual vision and spiritual blindness. The man born blind professes his faith in Jesus after hearing the declaration "You are seeing him, the one who speaks to you". This is the process of discipleship. It starts with spiritual blindness and culminates with a profession of faith.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman changed her life forever. Her prejudice showed by her attitude for being asked to give a drink by a foreigner, a Jew, was changed into an open disposition to dialogue.

The misconception about the place of worship gives place to the correct comprehension of God, who is not limited by time and space. She start this episode as a housekeeper now she is leaving it as a bearer of good news, a messenger of the Messiah.

Dear Fellow Disciples

The three disciples had the experience of seeing God’s beauty in Jesus’ transfiguration. At the same time Jesus manifests the splendor of his humanity, clean from any stain as the Father had planned it for all of us, since creation.

Peter wants to perpetuate this experience that’s why he proposed the building of the three tents. He didn’t even worry about himself and his companions. However that wasn’t Jesus’, God’s plan. They must go down the mountain and continue their journey and discipleship.